Research has shown that e-cigarettes increase blood pressure and heart rate. (Source: getty images)
Adolescents’ use of e-cigarettes doubles the risk of starting to smoke traditional cigarettes, suggested a new study. The position paper of the European Association of Preventive Cardiology (EAPC) sums up the effects of devices that look like cigarettes and refillable vaporisers that do not resemble cigarettes.
Research has shown that e-cigarettes increase blood pressure and heart rate, change the artery walls, making them stiffer and less elastic, and inhibit the function of blood vessels by damaging their lining. These, in turn, are risk factors for blood clots and fatty build-up inside artery walls that can cause heart attacks.
Vaping also has negative effects on lungs and is detrimental to the developing foetus during pregnancy. Studies have also argued that e-cigarettes could cause cancer.
Read| Be warned: Vaping isn’t a safe alternative to smoking
“Vaping is marketed towards teenagers and the tobacco industry uses celebrities to promote it as being healthier than smoking,” senior author and professor Maja-Lisa Lochen of UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromso, was quoted as saying.
“Action is urgently needed to halt the growing use in young people. The World Health Organisation (WHO) states that e-cigarettes are harmful to health,” the author added.
The professor added, “E-cigarettes are a relatively new product and the long-term effects are unknown. Now is the time for politicians and regulators to act with public health campaigns to increase awareness and legislation to halt uptake in young people.”
Here is what experts recommended:
* Regulate the advertising of e-cigarettes, the same way as tobacco.
* Age verification procedures to prevent adolescents from accessing e-cigarette websites.
* Schools need to educate children about the negative effects of e-cigarettes.
* There should be public campaigns to raise awareness about the adverse effects and prevent initiation of vaping
* Smoking cessation should be considered only if conventional methods have failed.
* E-cigarettes should be avoided during pregnancy.
(With inputs from ANI)
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